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Masks are not required, but enccouraged, with new policy BY MIRANDA PALMAS
A&E EDITOR
MPALMAS@CCCLARION.COM
AND MARK SNOW
CLARION citrus college
Mask mandate lifted, effective immediately
MANAGING EDITOR
MSNOW@CCCLARION.COM
Masks are no longer be required to be worn indoors for all vaccinated people. An email was sent to employees at 8:42 a.m., after school had started, on April 11 by Greg Schulz, superintendent/president of Citrus College. The email was not sent to students. Citrus Director of human resources and district chief negotiator, Robert Sammis, made a presentation on the mask mandate being lifted April 5 at the Board of Trustees meeting. The district and employee representatives reached an agreement at the meeting to follow the decisions of the Los Angeles County Department of Education to recommend, but not require masks indoors. “Mandatory weekly testing still remains in place for all students and employees on campus,” Schulz said in the email. “Due in part to the Los Angeles Department of Public Health’s
Anxiety spikes as in-person classes return
KCURIEL@CCCLARION.COM
MARK SNOW - STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
The mask mandate was lifted on campus as of 8:52 a.m. April 11, halfway through the spring semester. Students, faculty and staff are strongly recommended to wear masks, but they are not required.
guidelines, LACDPH strongly recommends, but no longer requires indoor masking,” Schulz said in the email. “...Citrus College will continue to closely monitor the status of the pandemic and will communicate any changes to our safety protocols
as appropriate in the future,” Schulz said in an email to employees.”In the meantime, we will continue to follow any requirements issued by federal, state and local public health agencies.” The email also said that unvaccinated employees will still
have to wear masks per CAL/OSHA requirements. College nurse Shauna Bigby and Board of Trustee member Anthony Contreras did not respond to emails sent on April 6 by the Clarion for clarification on the mandate.
Transportation becomes difficult amid increasing bus fees and gas prices Public transportation has been a way for college students to get to school and classes they need to take in order to achieve their academic goal. Students struggle with fees in order to take public transportation to school or even home from campus.
April 12, 2022
BY KARINA CURIEL
Class Pass ignored as ridership decreases AGARCIA@CCCLARION.COM
Volume LXXV • Issue 12
STAFF REPORTER
NICHOLAS LIRA - STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
BY ANDREW GARCIA
ccclarion.com
Students face difficulty transitioning from online classes to in-person
A Foothill Transit bus waits for passengers on Foothill Boulevard in front of Citrus College on April 11. Students have found it tough to use.
STAFF REPORTER
Online at
Bus driver Junior, who refused to provide his last name said, “Many students take the bus but to be honest there has been a serious decrease since the pandemic hit the communities near us.” Many students do not live close to public transportation, which makes it difficult to get to school. There are also many scenarios that make it hard for a current college student, like class schedules
not aligning with scheduled bus stops. The cost of public transportation also comes into play when paying for school. “Taking the bus is honestly a hassle when it comes to getting to school, it was so difficult that I had to save until I could afford a car.” Andrew Macklif, a current student at Citrus College said. Citrus College has a Foothill Transit class pass that many
students don’t know about and also may not have enough money to renew to get to their desired destination. Many students cannot afford to buy a car causing a huge conflict with students getting to classes. Public transportation offers many public services, but might not be worth the cost for college students that are trying to afford school and living expenses.
On March 15, 2020, the U.S. locked down to prevent the spread of COVID-19. This meant that inperson classes would transition to online. Now that in-person classes have returned, more students are finding themselves anxious to return to a classroom setting due to the lack of face-to-face interactions with other students for the past two years. Kaili Hiramoto, a student at Citrus College, said that the process of making new friends is harder. There are not as many students on campus, so that makes socializing even harder. “Whenever there’s a break in my class, most people go on their phones instead of trying to talk to each other,” Hiramoto said. “I feel like a lot of people forgot how to talk to each other.” Carissa Dycus, a freshman at Citrus College, said the pandemic made her more of an introvert. “Not being able to hang out with that many people, it almost like, lowered my tolerance to people,” Dycus said. “I realized I could only hang out with a few people at a time before my social battery would be drained.” Students are facing similar issues to one another, struggling with different forms of anxiety due to the lack of face-to-face interactions throughout the pandemic. Some students have spent a majority of their time at Citrus College online, so the transition to in-person has been intense. Justine Marshall, Citrus College alumna, transferred to Cal State Long Beach last year, and has still been having some trouble transitioning to in-person classes. “I became so used to my routine, so having to go to an actual school and find my classes was a little overwhelming at first,” Marshall said. “I felt so out of place and it took so long to feel fully comfortable. Even now, things still don’t feel exactly the same as they were before. It’s been a little harder to socialize.”
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